Jewish ghettos (Holocaust) essays

Jewish ghettos (Holocaust) essays It can be agreed on that the ghettos established as part of the Nazi regime to put an answer to the Jewish question all have something in common. They were all populated by European Jews; they were all established to segregate the Jewish race from the rest of the population; smuggling was rampant in all ghettos; and the living conditions were all sub standard with a large number of Jews dying whilst living in the ghettos. However, like all things in life, the ghettos in wartime Europe all had their differences. Whether it be in size, location, population or any other defining factor, no ghetto was exactly the same as another. The ghettos were placed under the administrative control of the Jewish council or Judenrate, however, although Jews ran the ghettos, they were subject to superior German control and had to enforce any order given. Progressively, from 1941 until the end of the war, the ghetto leadership was forced to give up Jews for deportation to death camps as ghettos were liquidated. The Jewish leadership had little option but comply with German order or suffer the ultimate consequence. As the Jewish Council was forced to comply with German rule in choosing people to deport from the ghettos, in most cases, it was difficult in choosing who was to go and who was to stay behind. Chaim Rumkowski, leader of the Jewish council in the Lodz ghetto, states the following in a speech: Im just a servant of the authorities. I have to bow my head and do as Im told. The Jewish authorities are definitely doing all that can be done. This line appropriately describes the situation council leaders faced in each ghetto. Although having considerable influence, the Jewish leaders were sheer instruments of German authorities. This was evident in the high mortality rate of rebel leaders. Jewish council leaders did feel obligated to care for the population of their g...